Mop swab and method of making it



Sept. 19,1950 w. PODOLAK MOP SWAB AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Filed March 13, 1946 HTTORNEY Patented Sept. 19, 1950 *W'alter-Po'dolak, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Boyl'e- .Midway Inc., -Ghicago, 111., a corporation :of

- Delaware Application March 13, 1946, Serial N 0. 654,027

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved mop swab and method of making it. More particularly it relates to a simplified mop swab adapted todbe demountably attached to a handle, comprising a swatch of yarn sewed to a central tape and a two-ply foundation, the central tape of the swatch being in turn sewed to the periphery of the foundation. My invention further relates to a method of assembling such parts to form a mop swab.

Mop swabs may be made both by hand and by machine, but under present "competitive conditions machine manufacture is essential to commercial success. Accordingly, a mop swab must be so designed and its manufacture so arranged as to be adapted to machine operatic-n.

One object of my invention is to provide a mop swab that is rugged and wear resistant, yet simple in construction.

Another object is to provide a swab which lends itself to economical machine production.

A further object of my invention is to provide a simple swab that may be demountably attached to a handle.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a process for assembling the swab which may readily be carried out by machine.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description.

Various ways have been developed in the past for making mop swabs of varying design by hand, by machine and by combinations of hand and machine operations. These have met with varying success, but none, so far as I know, has combined ruggedness of product with simplicity of design and operation as advantageously as the present invention.

My invention can best be understood by reference to the drawings in connection with the following description, but these are to be taken as illustrative rather than limiting, the scope of my invention being defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an exploded view in perspective of the elements of my improved swab before assembly;

Figs. 2 and 3 represent successive stages of assembly of the elements shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the completed mop swab.

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a partially completed swab in the stage following that shown in Fig. 3, i. e. the swatch having been turned around one corner of the foundation;

partially completed swab, i. e. after stitching the swatch along the longitudinal center line of the foundation; and i Fig. 9is a section of the completed swab on line 99 of Fig. 4.

In Figs. 1-3 and 6 the strands of yarn 'l l'are shown with exaggerated diameters to indicate the construction of the swatch; in Figs. 1- 3 the strands are shown spread in a horizontal plane as on a sewing table during assembly, while in the remaining figures the strands are shown pendant from thestitches l4 and I5, as in the finished swab. a

The swab of my invention is made of three elements: a foundation top a, a foundation bottom 1), and a swatch of yarn c.

The foundation elements are advantageously made of duck or other suitable fabric, and both may have a substantially arrowhead outline as shown in Fig. 5. The top a has a central, generally ovate opening In to permit introduction of a suitable handle-mounting device. The latter, however, forms no part of this invention. The foundation elements may be cut out cheaply in large numbers by the use of suitable dies.

The swatch 0 comprises an elongated assembly of transversely placed cotton yarn ll held together by a central longitudinal tape l2 to which the yarn is stitched. Such swatches are well known in the art and several machine methods of producing them have been devised.

The first step in making the swab by my invention is to stitch elements a and I) together at their peripheries I3, lpreferably ona machine with an overcast or buttonhole stitch or the like. This stage of assembly is shown in Fig. 2. One end of the swatch is then stitched to the bottom of the foundation along its longitudinal center line by stitches I4 passing through the tape l2 and both plies a and b of the foundation, as shown in Fig. 3. Finally, the remainder of the swatch is attached by continuing the line of stitches 14 around the periphery of the foundation (e. g. in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3) as at l5, the tape I2 being guided to conform to the periphery of the foundation and the stitches l5 passing through elements a and b and through the tape [2 of swatch c. The beginning of this step is illustrated in Fig. 5, where the swatch has turned one corner of the foundation and the peripheral stitching I5 has been started.

These operations produce a full mop swab having three double rows of yarn running longitudinally of the foundation, as is evident from Fig. 9. The center double row of strands, as shown in this sectional figure, is constituted of one end portion of the swatch c secured by stitching I4 through tape I2 to the foundation (as illustrated in Fig. 3), and the two peripheral double rows are constituted of the remainder of the swatch, curved to conform to the periphery of the foundation and secured thereto by stitches l5, a continuation of stitches l4.

All the above-described operations may be performed by hand but they are particularly adapted to be performed on suitable machines. Together they constitute an extraordinarily simple, rapid and efficient process of assembly.

While in the above description the parts are disclosed as being secured together by stitching, other forms of attachment may be used, such as adhesives, stapling or the like, which are effective in forming a strong linear seam.

The shape of the foundation need not be that shown in the drawings, but may be elliptical, circular, rectangular or otherwise varied. Other changes may be made by those skilled in art without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A mop swab, comprising a two-ply foundation and a swatch of yarn secured to a longitudinal tape, the upper of the foundation plies having an opening therethrough adapted to receive a handle-holding device, the two plies being secured together by peripheral stitching and the swatch being secured to the under side of the foundation along a transverse center line of the foundation and along the periphery of the foundation by a single continuous line of stitching passing through the longitudinal tape of the swatch and through both layers of the foundation.

2. The process of assembling a mop swab the component parts of which comprise a two-ply foundation and a swatch of yarn secured to a longitudinal tape, the process comprising the following steps: superposing one foundation ply on the other, stitching the plies together peripherally, stitching one end of the swatch to the foundation along a transverse line of the foundation and stitching the remainder of the swatch to the foundation along the periphery of the foundation by a single continuous transverse and peripheral line of stitching through both layers of the foundation.

WALTER PODOLAK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 528,730 Magoris Nov. 6, 1894 1,191,872 Congram July 18, 1916 1,209,639 Carter Dec. 19, 1916 1,360,926 Glenn Nov. 30, 1920 1,998,278 Halsey Apr. 16, 1935 2,067,687 Teare Jan. 12, 1937 2,247,883 Johnson July 1, 1941 2,300,821 Weaver et a1 Nov. 3, 1942 

